Elmvale, ON F1 Tornado of June 2, 1998

Barrie - Orillia - Midland


This tornado touched down at around 4:00 pm and struck the local co-op, tearing off a portion of the roof and throwing debris over 500m. Two heavy manure spreaders were thrown for hundreds of metres and a chemical storage building, loaded with heavy stock, was moved several metres off of its foundation. Trees were snapped and uprooted and power poles were torn down.

This was one of four tornadoes to touch down in Southern Ontario on June 2. The others:

Figure 1 depicts the surface observations at 2:00 pm EDT, which depicts a strong low pressure over Lake Huron with a stationary front extending into central Ontario/Quebec and a cold front crossing the Great Lakes. The cold front became the focus for intense thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening hours of June 2nd.

Figure 1. Surface analysis at 18Z on June 2, 1998 showing mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) contours, surface observations, fronts and pressure centres (WPC, 2017)

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018), an F1 tornado touched down at 3:55 pm EDT near Elmvale, ON. The tornado travelled for 23 km. The width of the tornado was not documented by ECCC. The tornado caused no fatalities, injuries or property damage.


Sources

NWS Weather Prediction Center Surface Analysis Archive. (2017). Surface analysis 18Z Tue Jun 2 1998. Retrieved from: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/archives/web_pages/sfc/sfc_archive.php

Environment and Climate Change Canada Data. (2018). Canadian National Tornado Database: Verified Events (1980-2009) – Public. Retrieved from: http://donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/weather/products/canadian-national-tornado-database-verified-events-1980-2009-public/